Philip K. Dick’s The Great C Arrives on Mobile VR Headsets

There are some truly amazing animation experiences for virtual reality (VR), showcasing how well the two fit. One of those is The Great C, an adaption of author Philip K. Dick’s (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) story by Secret Location. Originally released for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift last year, today, the studio has brought the title to mobile headsets.

The Great C

The Great C is now compatible with Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream, bringing the content to an even wider audience. Secret Location used its white-label VR content management and distribution platform, Vusr Publisher, to port the experience over.

“Philip K. Dick’s cautionary tale on the pitfalls of worshipping technology is especially relevant in today’s society and our adaptation of The Great C stands strong as an example of how a VR narrative can be riveting while still conveying an important message,” said Ryan Andal, president of Secret Location. “We hope to introduce The Great C’s truly cinematic production value and storytelling to the millions of mobile VR users seeking a new sci-fi adventure to experience.”

Coming in at a decent 37-minutes, the dramatic sci-fi adventure takes place in a post-apocalyptic landscape where humanity’s remnants are ruled over by an all-powerful supercomputer known as the Great C. The story follows Clare, a young woman who finds her life upended when her fiancé is summoned for an annual pilgrimage; a journey from which no one ever returns. Forced to leave the safe confines of her village, Clare must now decide whether to accept the rules of this harsh society or fight against the oppressive reality of her world.

The Great C

Secret Location is well versed in immersive storytelling having created a number of different VR experiences over the years, such as Insidious 3: VR Experience, Sleepy Hollow: VR Experience, Transpose and Blasters of the Universe.

The Great C is available now for Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream, as well as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive from the usual online stores, retailing for $5.99 USD. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Secret Location, reporting back with any further updates.

Philip K. Dick-inspired VR Story ‘The Great C’ Now Available on Mobile VR

Secret Location, developers behind Blasters of the Universe (2017), today announced they’ve brought their Philip K. Dick inspired VR experience, The Great C (2018), to Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream.

The 37-minute sci-fi adventure experience is now available for $6 across all platforms, including versions available on Steam (Vive, Rift) and the Oculus Store (Rift, Go, Gear VR), and Google Play (Daydream).

The Great C is based on the sci-fi short story by Philip K. Dick, and throws you head-first into cinematic narrative set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event. Without spoiling it too much, The Great C focuses on a young woman named Clare who follows her fiancé as he’s forced to go on a journey to meet ‘The Great C’, an AI who calls upon the tribe each year to offer up a chosen member.

Image courtesy Secret Locationc

We went hands-on with The Great C when it released on PC VR headsets late last year, and it proved to be a powerful example of VR storytelling done right; the experience is a visually compelling, brings expert voice acting, motion capture, and classic movie-style pacing to impressive effect.

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“Philip K. Dick’s cautionary tale on the pitfalls of worshiping technology is especially relevant in today’s society and our adaptation of The Great C stands strong as an example of how a VR narrative can be riveting while still conveying an important message,” said Ryan Andal, president of Secret Location. “We hope to introduce The Great C’s truly cinematic production value and storytelling to the millions of mobile VR users seeking a new sci-fi adventure to experience.”

The Great C premiered last year at the Venice Film Festival with additional screenings at the Chicago Film Festival, and FEFFS in France.

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Secret Location’s The Great C Is Coming To Airports Around The World

Secret Location’s The Great C Is Coming To Airports Around The World

Last year Transpose developer Secret Location dabbled with the VR movie genre. The result was The Great C, an excellent virtual take on a short story by Philip K. Dick. From this week, you’ll be able to watch it before jetting off around the world.

Secret Location this week announced partnerships with Inflight VR and Skylights. Both agreements will see The Great C brought to both company’s pre-flight VR offerings. For Inflight VR it’s available at the Paris Star Alliance lounges at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Fiumicino Airport in Rome. Skylight’s offering is also available to Business and First Class passengers at Charles de Gaulle. Expansions to other airports are coming later this year.

It’d be great to see the experience available as an in-flight VR movie but The Great C currently isn’t available on mobile headsets. Somehow we don’t think anyone wants to lug a heavy VR rig onto a plane to get a Rift working either. Nevermind then making the space for room-scale.

In-flight VR has long been touted as a great potential use case for VR. You can see why; imagine being able to slip away from the dingey isle seat next to the screaming child and into a comfy virtual apparently where you can switch on Netflix and kick back.

The Great C is a sci-fi short set in a post-apocalyptic world. You follow two young villagers as they embark on a long journey to appease a mysterious machine. The app is one of the longest VR movies out there with a run time of over 30 minutes.

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Iberia to Offer VR Entertainment on Flights Between Madrid and New York

Thanks to standalone virtual reality (VR) headsets immersive entertainment can be enjoyed anywhere, especially when travelling long-haul. Specialist VR provider to the travel industry Inflight VR has recently announced a new collaboration with Iberia, helping to expand the airline’s in-flight entertainment options for passengers.

INFLIGHT VR

Iberia will run the new entertainment service on routes between Madrid and New York and Tel Aviv as part of a six-month trial period, making headsets available to passengers on the two daily Madrid-New York flights that Iberia operates with Airbus A350- 900s, and on the daily Madrid-Tel Aviv flight in an Airbus A330-200. Depending on how the trial goes Iberia will then decide whether to expand the service to other routes.

Inflight VR will be providing Iberia with Pico Goblin 2 headsets – just like it did for FlixBus – with passengers able to rent the headsets as an alternative to standard movie content. They’ll be able to choose videogames, films, city travelogues, and documentaries, including dives into the depths of the Red Sea.

Commenting on the new collaboration Nikolas Jaeger, founder and managing director of Inflight VR, said in a statement: “We think virtual reality has a great potential and it can change the air passenger experience as a part of the in-flight entertainment programme. The viewer is no longer a mere observer, but can take a stroll in the city he or she will be visiting, or simply relax before arriving at the destination.”

INFLIGHT VRIgnacio Toval, Iberia’s Digital Transformation Director, added: ”We learned about Inflight VR through Hangar 51, IAG’s start-up accelerator programme. Since 2017, we’ve been working together to develop a VR solution that can offer a new experience to our customers. An important aspect of Iberia’s digital transformation push lies in the incorporation of new technologies and digital innovation during the entire travel experience, from the moment they think about buying a ticket to arrival at the destination.”

Additionally, Secret Location has teamed up with Skylights and Inflight VR to bring the studio’s cinematic adventure, The Great C to both company’s customers. Via Inflight’s VR entertainment system multiple Paris Star Alliance lounges at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Fiumicino Airport in Rome will benefit, with a larger rollout expected at additional locations as well as Inflight’s in-flight VR system later this year. Skylights rollout will include five different Air France lounges also at the Charles de Gaulle Airport.

For further Inflight VR updates, keep reading VRFocus.

GIVEAWAY: Win A Free Copy Of The Great C On Steam

GIVEAWAY: Win A Free Copy Of The Great C On Steam

The Great C is a cinematic VR experience based on the short story by Philip K. Dick of the same name created by Secret Location. Secret Location’s previous VR effort, Blasters of the Universe, is a neon-soaked bullet hell shooter all about action, so The Great C is a decidedly slower-paced experience. But what it lacks in action it more than makes up for in an extremely polished and high-quality narrative.

We’re giving away 10 codes for The Great C on Steam. Winners will be randomly selected. All of our keys are Steam keys, which means they will work for Rift and Vive.

Enter the giveaway for a chance to win right here.

For more on what we think of the game, here is an excerpt from an interview-based preview we published:

The Great C will transport viewers to a post-apocalyptic landscape in which the remnants of humanity are ruled over by an all-powerful artificial intelligence supercomputer known as the Great C. Each year, the nearby village is forced to send a young person on a pilgrimage to appease the mysterious machine — a journey from which no one ever returns.

Winners will be selected at approximately 4PM PT on Friday, October 19th, 2018. If you’d rather not click the link above, here is the embedded contest widget:

GIVEAWAY: Win A Free Copy Of The Great C On Steam

Good luck!

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The Great C: VR-Kurzfilm nach Philip K. Dick für Rift und Vive veröffentlicht

Der US-amerikanische Autor Philip K. Dick ist bekannt für seine zahlreichen Science-Fiction Romane und Kurzgeschichten, welche das Genre imposant prägten. So wurden von seinen 118 Kurzgeschichten und 43 Romanen unter anderem Blade Runner, Minority Report oder A Scanner Darkly verfilmt. Mit der Dystopie The Great C wurde eine seiner Kurzgeschichten in die VR adaptiert und erstmals auf den internationalen Filmfestspielen in Venedig vorgeführt. Seit wenigen Tagen ist der VR-Kurzfilm ebenso für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive erhältlich.

The Great C – Dystopischer VR-Kurzfilm nach Philip K. Dick auf Steam und im Oculus Store erhältlich

The Great C gehört eher zu den unbekannteren Titeln des amerikanischen Sci-Fi-Urvaters. Dennoch ist die dystopische Kurzgeschichte aus dem Jahr 1953 nicht weniger interessant:

In einer postapokalyptischen Welt haben sich die letzten menschlichen Überlebenden zu einem Stamm zusammengesammelt und leben nun in einer unterdrückten Gemeinschaft. Beherrscht wird der ruinenartige Planet von einem maschinellen Overlord, dem Great C. Diese KI fordert eine jährliche Herausforderung von seinen Untergebenen.

Diese müssen ihm zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt einen männlichen Abgesandten schicken, welcher drei Fragen an den Supercomputer stellt. Sollte er nicht in der Lage sein, diese zu beantworten, gewährt er dem Dorf die Freiheit. Kann er sie jedoch mit seinem Wissensschatz beantworten, erwartet den Boten der Tod. Zum Zeitpunkt der Handlung schildert eine liebende Frau die Ereignisse aus ihrer Perspektive, deren Verlobter zuletzt für die gefährliche Aufgabe auserkoren wurde. Die junge Clarke begibt sich daraufhin auf eine Reise, um das Schicksal ihres Geliebten zu erfahren.

The-Great-C-VR-Kurzfilm-Oculus-Rift-HTC-Vive-Steam

Die Kurzgeschichte wurde nun von Secret Location in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Canadian Media Fund in einer VR-Adaption umgesetzt. Und das mit reichlich Potenzial: Der VR-Kurzfilm kombiniert die immersiven Möglichkeiten der VR-Technologie mit den konventionellen Methoden der Filmproduktion und erschafft dadurch eine einzigartige Geschichte mit beeindruckendem Schnitt und Montage. Damit erzeugen die Verantwortlichen eine tief gehende wie bedrückende Welt mit imposantem Storytelling. Zur künstlerischen Freiheit halten sich die Produzenten nicht vollständig an die Vorlage, sondern erweitern diese an manchen Stellen bzw. gehen eigene Erzählwege.

The-Great-C-VR-Kurzfilm-Oculus-Rift-HTC-Vive-Steam

Insgesamt werden die Zuschauer/innen während der 37-minütigen Animationsreise durch über 22 imposante Umgebungen geführt, um die emotionale Reise nachzuerzählen. Das dramatische Epos bietet derweil dank der beeindruckenden Grafik ein immersives Erlebnis, welches dank des tollen Soundtracks von Tom Holkenborg zusätzlich unterstützt wird.

Der Film feierte auf den internationalen Filmfestspielen in Venedig kürzlich seine Weltpremiere. Ab sofort dürfen jedoch auch VR-Home-Nutzer/innen auf das Spektakel zugreifen.

The Great C ist ab sofort für Oculus Rift und HTC Vive für 4,99 Euro auf Steam sowie im Oculus Store erhältlich. Im Q4 2018 soll ein Release für weitere VR-Brillen wie PlayStation VR (PSVR) folgen.

(Quellen: Road to VR | Video: Secret Location YouTube)

Der Beitrag The Great C: VR-Kurzfilm nach Philip K. Dick für Rift und Vive veröffentlicht zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

Philip K. Dick-inspired VR Story ‘The Great C’ Brings Expert Cinematic Flair

Secret Location, developers behind Blasters of the Universe (2017), today launched a Philip K. Dick-inspired VR adaptation of The Great C, a sci-fi short story that follows a tribe of humans oppressed by an artificially intelligent overlord.

The titular VR experience takes you to the ruins of a typical American city, now entirely depopulated with a tribe of hunter-gatherers living at its periphery. If you’ve read Dick’s short story, which was published in 1953, Secret Location has significantly turned up the malevolence of the AI overlord, dubbed ‘The Great C’, by adding in a twisted human servant to the mix who makes sure its yearly ‘report’ is carried out.

Image courtesy Secret Location

Here’s Secret Location’s back cover blurb:

The Great C follows Clare, a young woman who finds her life upended when her fiancé is summoned for this year’s pilgrimage. Leaving the safe confines of her village, Clare must decide whether to accept the rules of her harsh society or fight against the oppressive powers that created it.

Without spoiling the 37-minute real-time rendered experience any further, it’s safe to say The Great C is an early triumph in VR storytelling. It’s a visually compelling experience that marries expert voice acting, motion capture, and classic movie-style pacing that will leave you wishing it were adapted into a fully explorable VR game.

 

As a VR short story though, you’re swept through the narrative via predetermined camera spots, letting you soak in a variety of richly detailed locations as the action unfolds. Since nature has reclaimed much of the world, you’re treated to visually stunning landscapes and crumbling cities.

Image courtesy Secret Location

The experience offers both a normal viewing mode, which automatically teleports you to discrete viewing areas, and a ‘cinematic mode’, which takes you through sweeping camera shots and fluidly scales your point of view from area to area. The latter I found to be somewhat uncomfortable, as constantly scaling from small to large can be fairly disorienting.

The Great C is now available on Steam (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift) and the Oculus Store (Rift) for $5.

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VR Brings Philip K. Dick Story The Great C to Life Today

After making it public debut during the Venice Film Festival this summer, Secret Location’s virtual reality (VR) adaption of famed author Philip K. Dick’s The Great C, is now ready for worldwide consumption, launching for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive today.

The Great C transports viewers into a post-apocalyptic landscape where humanity’s remnants are ruled over by an all-powerful supercomputer known as the Great C. Each year, the nearby village is forced to send a young person on a pilgrimage to appease the mysterious machine – a journey from which no one ever returns.

The 37-minute dramatic sci-fi adventure follows Clare, a young woman who finds her life upended when her fiancé is summoned for this year’s pilgrimage. Forced to leave the safe confines of her village, Clare must now decide whether to accept the rules of this harsh society or fight against the oppressive reality of her world.

Featuring stunning environments and a powerful soundtrack composed by Grammy-nominated artist Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, his recent film scoring credits include Mad Max Fury Road, Deadpool and Peter Jackson’s forthcoming Mortal Engines.

Secret Location has used traditional filmmaking techniques throughout The Great C in areas such as editing, composition, and story structure. The studio has created a number of different VR experiences over the years, such as Insidious 3: VR Experience, Sleepy Hollow: VR Experience and Blasters of the Universe.

The Great C is available now for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive for $5.99 USD, with a PlayStation VR version to follow. When a date is announced VRFocus will let you know.

Philip K. Dick’s The Great C VR Adaption Is Releasing Next Month

Back in July of this year it was announced that the short story The Great C from the renowned sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, who is known for his odd and often twisted narratives which covered near-future and cyberpunk themes, would be getting adapted into virtual reality (VR). Now, sci-fi adventure will be releasing for everyone to enjoy next month as the immersive cinematic experience comes to the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

The story of the The Great C focuses on a young woman called Clare, who lives in a village under the control of the almighty computer. Each year, the village is forced to send a young person on a pilgrimage to appease the machine. Clare soon finds herself in a tough spot as her fiance is chosen for the pilgrimage and she must choose whether to accept the rules of her society, or try and fight back. It is within this story that viewers will be taken on a cinematic narrative journey to a post-apocalyptic future.

The Great C has been adapted into VR by Entertainment One’s studio Secret Location, who are using the project as a test bed for pushing the boundaries in VR editing, composition and structure. The project also features the musical talent of award-winning producer Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL who is best known for his work composing soundtracks for Hollywood blockbusters such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Deadpool.

“I’m always looking for new technological advancements or mediums to experiment with in my composition work and The Great C was a unique project to explore VR, a really exciting new space with huge cinematic potential,” said Holkenborg in a statement about his involvement on the project earlier this month: “I love being at the cutting edge and The Great C allowed me to really push the envelope of what a film viewing and listening experience can be.”

The Great C will be releasing on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift on October 9th, 2018 with a PlayStation VR release to follow in 2019. The title runs for 37 minutes and will feature a poignant storyline, stunning environments and a powerful soundtrack. For more on the title in the future, keep reading VRFocus.

Philip K. Dick VR Adaptation The Great C Announces Junkie XL As Composer

The work of writer Philip K. Dick has captured the imagination of science fiction fans for decades, ad been the inspiration behind movies and TV shows like Blade Runner or The Man in the High Castle. The virtual reality (VR) adaptation is hoping to tread that same road, and the studio behind the adaptation of The Great C, Secret Location, has announced it will be working with award-winning producer Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL.

Holkenborg is best known for his work composing soundtracks for Hollywood blockbusters such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Deadpool. He has expressed his enthusiasm about the project and is hoping to enhance the VR experience by using his experience with modern and classical musical structures.

“I’m always looking for new technological advancements or mediums to experiment with in my composition work and The Great C was a unique project to explore VR, a really exciting new space with huge cinematic potential,” said Holkenborg. “I love being at the cutting edge and The Great C allowed me to really push the envelope of what a film viewing and listening experience can be.”

The Great C was premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and follows the story of a woman called Clare, living in a harsh future totally controlled by an apparently all-knowing computer called The Great C. Clare finds herself having to choose between the rules of her society and her own feelings when her fiancé is chosen for a deadly pilgrimage.

“Junkie XL’s reputation precedes him. We knew from the beginning that having him compose The Great C’s soundtrack would be a best-case scenario that takes our work to the next level,” said Ryan Andal, President and Co-Founder of Secret Location. “Pairing a strong Philip K. Dick story with Junkie XL’s atmospheric soundtrack, and then wrapping it all up in an intense filmic experience has made The Great C an unmissable title we feel is indicative of a new wave of VR content that better shows the medium’s potential.”

The Great C is planned for release on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR in Q4 of 2018. For future coverage of new and upcoming VR experiences, keep checking with VRFocus.